Electric field-induced transitions in perforated lamella of ABA triblock copolymer thin film

Abstract

Transformation of a perforated lamella of an ABA triblock copolymer melt confined in a thin film under an electric field is studied by real-space dynamical self-consistent field theory. Starting from a perforated lamella structure, we apply an electric field along [100] and [010] directions which are parallel to the surfaces of the thin film, and along [001] direction which is perpendicular to the thin film. With a sufficiently high value of the electric field, transitions to cylinders or perpendicular lamellae occur. Several kinetic pathways of the transitions have been found, some of which are very different from the ones observed for a perforated lamella in an AB diblock copolymer.